(this is what the weather forecast for San Jose showed every time I checked, while still in Germany)

On leaving Germany and moving to Costa Rica, and then to Ecuador

Comments, compliments... no complaints, with the exception of mosquitoes, but that's biodiversity for you! :)

Sunday, February 4, 2007

A very productive weekend...

As planned, I managed to buy everything on my list...and, surprise, surprise, a little bit more...I also had my hair cut short...I figured, as long as I can pull it up in a ponytail, it will work.

Now all my suitcases are full...and weighed...all filled to the limit allowed...Hopefully my scales coincide with those at the airport, or I will have a problem.

I achieved a lot today as well...I had to get rid of a lot of paper (I swear it reproduces when you're not looking)...

So, tomorrow early...as early as the post office opens, I will be shipping those boxes...that's how my day will start...then I will just go through my last minute list until I meet with the office crew for a last coffee and cake (Kaffee und Kuchen), then I will try to visit my boss' wife in the hospital...she's so nice I could never leave Germany without saying goodbye to her... I think after having done that I'll be able to relax a little...

Costa Rica, June 2007

White water rafting, levels III and IV

Costa Rica, March 2007

getting ready for canopying!

Austria, 2006

during a ski trip

The reason I picked my PhD subject (and why I enjoy giving)...

Today (Feb 23rd, 2007) I was given the book "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", by John Wood, who quotes the Dalai Lama from his book "The Art of Happiness" (I have to order that book!): "the Dalai Lama wrote that when we gave something away, we actually got something back in return: happiness. If we were to use our money simply to buy ourselves things, there would be no end. Acquisition would not produce happiness, as we'd never have the biggest boat, the nicest car, and would be stuck in a perpetual materialist cycle. But if we gave something away to those who are less fortunate, we'd get nothing in return except for a warm feeling in our heart and the knowledge in our brains that we had made the world a better place."